Kennesaw State, Georgia Tech, Georgia and Augusta closed out their Fall men’s golf schedules with strong showings in their final events of 2016.
Kennesaw won an event held at Steelwood CC in Loxley, Ala., shooting 27-under 837 to finish a whopping 25 shots ahead of runner-up Kentucky.
The Owls were led by freshman Connor Coffee of Peachtree City, who was the tournament’s individual champion at 12-under 204 with scores of 66-70-68. Teammate Pablo Rodriguez Tabernero was second at 208, closing with a 67.
Jake Fendt, a sophomore from Cumming, shot 68 in the opening round and tied for seventh at 214, with Chris Guglielmo, a senior from Cumming, contributing a second round 71. The Owls led by nine after shooting 10-under 278 the first day, and expanded their lead to 17 after a 280 score that afternoon. Kennesaw shot 279 the final day.
It was the second straight victory for the Owls, as they captured the annual Pinetree Intercollegiate, an annual event hosted by Kennesaw at Pinetree CC. The Owls closed with a tournament best 8-under 280 total the final day to finish at 862,13 ahead of Iowa State.
Coffee and Guglielmo were low for the Owls, tying for second at 213, four behind the winner from Iowa State. Guglielmo shot 67 in the second round, with the next lowest Kennesaw score a 75. Coffee closed with the low final round score, a 68.
Terremoana Beaucousin shot a 70 the final day and tied for sixth at 218, with Tarbernero T10 at 221. Fendt also shot 70 in the third round and tied for 13th at 222.
Georgia Tech placed second in the Cypress Point Classic, a match play style event played at the famed Cypress Point GC in Pebble Beach, Calif., that featured eight of the country’s top teams
The Yellow Jackets played rival Georgia in a 4-ball format in the opening round, and won 8 ½ – 3 ½. Albany’s Tyler Joiner and fellow junior Chris Petefish got a maximum four points in their match, with Powder Springs’ Luke Schniederjans teaming with fellow freshman Tyler Strafaci winning their match over Georgia’s top team 3 ½ – ½.
Tech won 8-4 later that day over No. 6 Stanford in alternate shot, with senior Vince Whaley and Columbus junior James Clark winning their match 4-0. Schniederjans and Strafaci again won 3 ½ – ½ over Stanford’s top team.
The Yellow Jackets lost to USC 19 ½ – 4 ½ in the finals, which had six singles matches worth four points each. Clark was the team’s only winner, taking his match 3-1.
Earlier in the Fall, Georgia Tech hosted its annual event at Golf Club of Georgia and placed 12th in a strong field of 17 teams. Tech finished with a 13-over 877 total, breaking par only in the second round at 286.
Clark was low for the Jackets at 218, tying for 29th. Michael Pisciotta, a junior from Alpharetta, was T33 at 219 with Schniederjans T43 at 221. Competing as an individual, Whaley closed with a 69 to tie for 19th at 216, with senior Michael Hines of Acworth, also playing as an individual, shooting a 69 in the second round.
Virginia and Texas tied for first at 8-under 856, with Duke’s Chandler Eaton, a freshman from Atlanta, tying for fourth individually at 210, three behind the co-champions from Virginia and Oklahoma.
Georgia bounced back from a disappointing showing in the event at Cypress Point to place second in a 24-team field in its Fall finale at Hawaii’s Ka’anapali GC. Clemson shot 20-under 264 the final day to edge the Bulldogs by one shot. Georgia finished at 25-under 827.
The Bulldogs were two shots out of the lead after an opening 284, but took a 10-stroke lead to the final round after posting an 18-under 266 the second day. Georgia shot 7-under 277 the final day, but Clemson was able to erase a 12-stroke deficit.
Greyson Sigg, a senior from Augusta, tied for third at 201 to lead the Bulldogs, posting scores of 69-64-68. Freshman Spencer Ralston of Gainesville also shot 64 in the second round and closed with a 68 to tie for eighth at 204. Zach Healy, a junior from Peachtree Corners, opened with scores o 69-65, but fell back with a final round 74 and tied for 12th at 208. Jaime Lopez Rivarola contributed a third round 68.
Georgia State also competed in the tournament in Hawaii and tied for eighth, shooting 13-under the final two days after a tough opening round. Nathan Mallonee, a senior from Lexington, shot 69-72-69 to tie for 19th at 210. Nick Budd, a sophomore from Woodstock, shot 68-69 the last two days.
Budd was the individual champion in the Panthers’ previous event in Greensboro, N.C., with scores of 67-69-68 for a 12-under 204 total, winning by one shot. Those were the only three rounds in the 60s for Georgia State in the tournament, with Mallonee contributing scores of 70 and 72.
Duke’s Eaton matched his tie for fourth at Golf Club of Georgia, equaling the low score of the tournament with a 65 in second round and finishing four behind Budd at 208.
Like Georgia Tech and Kennesaw, Georgia State also hosted a Fall event, placing fifth in the AutoTrader.com Collegiate at Berkeley Hills. The Panthers posted scores of 292-278-287 for a 7-under 857 total, well behind Mississippi’s winning score of 831.
Mallonee tied for 16th at 215 along with teammate Max Herrmann, who shot 68 in the second round. Alex Herrmann shot 66 the second round and tied for 28th at 217, with Budd also T28 after closing with a 68.
Augusta closed out its Fall schedule with a second place finish at Turtle Point on Kiawah Island, four shots behind Tennessee. The Jaguars led by nine after 36 holes, but shot 299 the final day after scores of 288 and 284 the first two rounds.
Jake Marriott was low for Augusta, tying for eighth at 216. Broc Everett tied for 11th at 217 and Emmanuel Kountakis, a senior from Augusta, shot 72-71 the first two rounds and tied for 22nd at 221.
Georgia Southern competed in the tournament at Berkeley Hills and placed seventh at 860, shooting 9-under 279 in the second round. Steven Fisk, a sophomore from Stockbridge, shot 72-67-72—211 and tied for seventh at 211. Luukas Alakulppi, a freshman from Valdosta, was T37 at 218 and fellow freshman Brett Barron of Cumming shot 71 in the second round.
Fisk was 12th at 211 as the Eagles closed out their Fall schedule in Hawaii, placing 11th in a 19-team field at 8-over 872.
Mercer finished seventh in the tournament at Pinetree with a 907 total. Justin Connelly, a senior from McDonough, was low for the Bears, placing 26th at 226. Stanton Schorr, a sophomore from Columbus, closed with a 69 to tie for 35th at 231.
In their previous tournament, the Bears were second in a tournament in Dickson, Tenn., shooting 882 to finish five behind the winner. Kiko Rosete shot 66 in the second round and tied for second at 216, three behind the medalist. Connelly tied for fifth at 218, with Schorr shooting 74 in all three rounds and tying for 14th at 222. Sophomore Brennan Bogdanovich of Cumming was T17 at 223.
Connelly tied for third at 213 in an earlier event in Kentucky, with the Bears placing sixth.